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Scotland’s prime minister warned against travel to Blackpool and other coronavirus hot spots in England after dozens of people who tested positive said they had recently visited the city.
Nicola Sturgeon said a separate incident team had been created to deal with people who had traveled to the Lancashire complex.
At least 180 people in Scotland who tested positive in the last month reported having traveled to Blackpool.
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Ms Sturgeon said: “I need to warn you that trips to Blackpool are now associated with a large and growing number of COVID cases in Scotland.”
“Blackpool is mentioned in the Test and Protect talks far more than anywhere else outside of Scotland,” the prime minister added.
Sturgeon said 94 people contacted last week after contracting coronavirus said they had been to Blackpool recently, while 252 reported going elsewhere in the UK.
He also warned Celtic and Rangers football fans not to travel to town to watch the Old Firm game in pubs on Saturday.
The prime minister added: “We are currently advising against non-essential travel to parts of England that are classified as very high or high alert areas under England’s new three-tier system.
“And I ask people in these areas not to travel to Scotland either.”
Blackpool and the rest of Lancashire are currently under Level 2 restrictions.
In Lancashire, the infection rate is 310.7 per 100,000, with 4,689 cases recorded in the week to October 10.
County Council Chief Geoff Driver has said the additional restrictions are “unavoidable” and warned that hospital admissions will soon reach the same level as in early spring if no additional action is taken.
Sturgeon also said he backed a call from the Prime Minister of Wales to introduce restrictions on people traveling from high-risk areas to other UK nations.
He said he would write to Boris Johnson to “seek urgent conversations” on the subject.
Scotland’s latest daily figures recorded 15 more COVID-19-related deaths and 1,429 more cases on Wednesday.
